MotoGP News
Date: 6/July/2011
When Andrea Dovizioso overtook Repsol Honda team-mate Casey Stoner to take second place on the last lap of Sunday's Italian MotoGP it looked, to most bike fans, like nothing but good racing.
Dovizioso was the only home rider on the podium at Mugello, but - in a country used to seeing Ferrari impose team orders to maximise its title chances in Formula One - some were surprised that Dovizioso was 'allowed' to beat championship leader Stoner.
The Italian Grand Prix was won by Jorge Lorenzo, Stoner's nearest championship rival. Dovizioso's pass means that the Yamaha rider has now closed to 19, rather than 23 points, behind the Australian.
It's certainly hard to imagine Felipe Massa overtaking his Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso in the same situation. Yet Stoner fully supports open competition within the factory Honda team and rejects the whole concept of team orders.
"I don’t think there should ever really be team orders," said Stoner. "It's not football. You're not all on the same team, playing for the same thing. We're each our own person. Andrea still has a very good chance of the championship. He's very close, so I don’t really believe in team orders."
When asked directly about comparisons with F1, Stoner added:
"There's been some questionable times in Formula One, where I think people shouldn't have pulled over and let the other driver through. If they didn’t make a better race, that is their problem.
"Okay, maybe you can win a championship with team orders, but it doesn’t really feel like a championship. There is a better way to win."
Dovizioso, third in the championship and 33 points behind Stoner, unsurprisingly agreed:
"Fortunately in our championship, team orders are rare. Not like in other sports like Formula One. I think this is good.
"If Honda has three factory riders it is because they want all three riders to try to win the title."
Lorenzo may have gained from Dovizioso passing Stoner, but - in what could be interpreted as a message to Yamaha and team-mate Ben Spies - he did feel that team orders should be used at the end of the year.
Spies, winner at Assen, is already 78 points (over three race wins) behind Stoner.
"I don’t have the same opinion [as Stoner and Dovizioso] about this, especially at the end of the year," said the reigning world champion. "If your partner can help you - and they are not fighting for the championship - we are a team, no?
"Our salary is coming from our brand, so the partner should help you if it is possible. MotoGP is not like soccer, but it is still a team and success for the brand is very important."
But Lorenzo agreed that it is far too early for Dovizioso to support Stoner.
"There are still ten races and Andrea is fighting for the championship, so if he can beat Casey then he should try," Lorenzo declared.
Honda has not won the MotoGP title since 2006, with Nicky Hayden, and this year is the factory's last chance to win an 800cc riders' championship.
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